The recent hurricanes put me in mind of 1987…remember…not only the big storm but a heap of man-made disasters and some momentous decisions?

Margaret Thatcher was returned as Prime Minister for a third term

the Church of England voted to allow women’s ordination

the Archbishop of Canterbury’s envoy was kidnapped in Beirut

party hostess Cynthia Payne went on trial again and a film of her life, Personal Services, was released

the British and French governments formally approved proposals for a Channel Tunnel

a passenger ferry capsized in the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, killing one hundred and ninety-three

Rudolf Hess died in prison by his own hand

a gunmen ran amok and killed sixteen people in Hungerford

a hurricane killed twenty-three in southern England

a few days after which automated computerised share trading, possibly, precipitated Black Monday

an IRA bomb killed 11 and injured more than 60 at Enniskillen’s war memorial on Remembrance Sunday

accumulated rubbish under an escalator at King’s Cross fuelled a fire which killed 31 and injured many more.

Seems incredible doesn’t it. Even more so, how did I weave this background into the story of a woman’s investigation into the life of the great aunt she never met and the romance she found along the way. Read THE YEAR I FOUND GREAT AUNT ALICE to find out. Available on Kindle or from Amazon Books and watch out for a coming Giveaway on Goodreads.